When the lanes stop switching
by OopsWrongOne
Summary: The fact that Okabe reached the Steins Gate world line does not mean that the Future Gadget Laboratory will be quiet. This is probably going to be a series of one shots in the near future.
1. Nightmares

**Okay, here goes my first try to write anything Steins Gate related...**

"Finally, the world shall know the name of the insane mad scientist Hououin Kyouma! HAHAHAAHAAA!"

That was the first thing Kurisu heard as she opened the Futura Gadget Laboratory's door. She looked around the messy room, quickly noticing how one self proclaimed 'mad scientist' was laughing for no reason.

"What is it this time? Did he finally go insane or something?" she asked Daru, who just happened to be playing with her 2D girls again.

"I dunno, he just started acting like that few minutes ago. Just let him be, this is basically his daily routine by now" he answered, not looking away from his computer screen. Kurisu looked at Okabe, who was busy talking to his phone.

"... Yes, the Organization's plans to send ninjas here have begun... Yes, I will report back later... El. Psy. Kongroo." Okabe finally stopped his call with his imaginery friends and seemed to notice Kurisu.

"Ah, my dear assistant, Christina! When did you arrive into this laboratory of evil?!" he asked, still clearly going with his Hououin Kyouma act.

"I have been standing right here for five minutes, idiot!" Kurisu yelled, taking his phone from him.

"Assistant, I command you to give back my phone, it has the Organization's dark secrets in it" he said, clearly expecting her to do as told. Kurisu was clearly irritated by his act.

"I have told you already, I am NOT your assistant!" she yelled, throwing his phone on the couch.

"So, Christina, what brings you here today?" he asked. She should've guessed that he wouldn't be using her real name anytime soon. At least not a long as he was 'the mad scientist' as she had heard so many times before. Okabe sat down on the couch, picking up his phone and put it back into his pocket. It had been half a year now since he managed to reach the Steins Gate world line. But it still felt unreal that he wouldn't have to fight time anymore. When he remembered the things that had happened in the other world lines, his face became almost expressionless.

"Hey, I will be going to see Faris now, bye byeeee" Daru said as he almost ran out of the door, no doubt heading to May Queen. Okabe and Kurisu were now the only ones in that small room. They didn't look at each other, instead Kurisu was surfing the Internet with Daru's computer. Okabe on the other hand was now resting on the couch, looking at the ceiling.

"Hey, Okabe... Have you ever heard of this theory?" Kurisu asked, trying to start a conversation with him, that would inevitably end up with his mad scientist act again. As she got no answer, however, she looked at him and noticed that he had fallen asleep on the couch. She suddenly had a thought that would be justified as revenge for not using her real name. She pulled out a permanent marker and sneaked closer to him. She giggled like a small kid as she started drawing on his face. When she was done, he almost looked like a panda. Just almost, because pandas were supposed to be cuter. She tried to hold down her laughter as she returned to the computer.

Okabe's dream wasn't fun, not fun at all. It had started peacefully, with him spending time with Mayuri, but as soon as he looked away, he heard a loud bang. When he turned back, he saw Mayuri dead in a pool of blood. No, not again... This isn't supposed to happen, not in this world line! He left Mayuri's dead body there, running to the back of the lab, where the time leap machine had been in the previous world lines. But it wasn't there. It has to be here, it just has to be! There was no time for panicking, he had to find someone who could help. Anyone who knew about the time machine. Kurisu! She would help me! He took out his phone and started typing a text to Kurisu, saying that he needed her help. When he was about to press send, the door to the lab opened and Mayuri stepped in. She was alive, with absolutely no sign of blood anywhere on her clothes. That can't be... She died just now...

Kurisu closed the Internet browser, looking at Okabe, who was still sleeping. I guess I could take a shower when he's asleep. She closed the door to the showers, making extra sure that Okabe was still asleep.

Okabe was surrounded by dead bodies. All looked identical to Mayuri. One had been shot, the other one fell down from stairs, one was pushed under a train, one was shot again. And he was forced to watch each one of them, one by one. This cannot be real... Another Mayuri died, this time she was run over by a car. No, please stop... I don't want to see this again... He was surrounded by a sea of red. He woke up screaming in panic.

Kurisu was just drying herself with a towel when she heard a scream, coming from behind the door. She rushed to open the door, the towel loosely around her body. She saw Okabe sitting on the couch, his eyes wide open as he looked at his trembling hands. He looked up at her, making her blush as she realized that she was wearing nothing but a towel. She didn't really know what to think. Okabe was looking at her near naked body, with clear panic in his eyes but still looking like a panda. She could've either slapped him, laugh at him or maybe, just maybe ask what the hell was that screaming all about.

"Kurisu..." he mumbled, as if not believing his own eyes. She was more or less shocked by the fact that he actually bothered to use her real name instead of the usual Christina. The fact that he just had made her a bit worried.

"What is it? And did you have to scream like that? I think everyone in the street heard you." she asked, going back into the showering room to put on some clothes.

"Kurisu... But you died, twice. Mayuri died... All those times..." he said, still panicking. She came out of the room, wearing her usual clothes.

"Did you have a bad dream or something?" she asked, sitting down next to him, careful not to make him freak out or anything.

"Yes, it was just a dream..." he mumbled, his panic finally starting to disappear. The memories from the earlier world lines were still haunting him, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Kurisu and Mayuri were alive in this world line, nobody had died and nobody was going to.

"Christina, I require my usual drink." he said, somehow getting his act together again. Kurisu got annoyed again.

"I have told you already, my name isn't Christina!" she complained loudly. Okabe just sighed and got up, going to the fridge (that was somehow working even after the things that had been done to it) to get himself a soda. On the way there, however, he got a glimpse of his face from the mirror in the shower room. He ran to the mirror, studying his face that had black circles drawn all over it.

"Damn you Christina!" he yelled, turning to look at her. This time she couldn't hold back her laughter as the expression on his face was just too hilarious.

**Well, that ended up being different than I had planned. I hope that this was somehow worth reading. I am thinking about that I could make this a series of one shots. If you enjoyed the story or I missed some details in my story, just let me know.**


	2. Telling the truth

**Okay, I wasn't really planning to update this story this soon but I had few ideas floating inside my head so I though why not. This chapter is kind of a sequel to the first one, only that it takes place about 4 or 5 days after it. I hope you enjoy.**

It was another hot summer day. The lab was fairly empty with only Mayuri, Kurisu and Okabe. Kurisu was browsing channel and laughing every once in a while. Mayuri was just making another cosplay costume while eating a banana. Okabe got up from the couch and opened the window, letting in some air, even though the air was just as warm outside as it was inside. He groaned a bit and went to the fridge to check if they had some soda left. Which they didn't.

"Christina, I need you to go get me some soda" he said at Kurisu, who ignored him completely.

"Assistant, can you not hear my commands?" he asked her, which she still ignored. He gave up on trying to get her attention and basically collapsed back onto the sofa next to Mayuri.

"It is quite warm, Okarin. You should make sure you drink a lot!" Mayuri said with a childish smile.

"I am trying to but my dear assistant there just doesn't listen to me!" he said, pointing dramatically at Kurisu's back.

"Shut up, I'm trying to countertroll the trolls" Kurisu said, not lifting her eyes from the monitor. Now it was Okabe's turn to ignore her complaining as he got up and turned the computer off.

"Hey, Okabe, you idiot! I was still using that!" she yelled at his face.

"Yes, I could see that but the monitor is making the air in this room even warmer than it already is." he said and took her arm, pulling her out of the lab with him.

"H-hey, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kurisu complained as they walked down the stairs and entered the sunlight.

"We're going shopping" he said calmly, still pulling her with him.

"Fine, fine, just release my arm already, my jacket is going to get ruined!" she complained loudly. Okabe sighed and did as he was told. They kept walking in silence for couple of minutes.

"Hey, Okabe... Is everything okay? You have seemed a bit tired for a week now." she finally asked, not making eye contact with him.

"I mean, of course I'm not worried about you, I'm just-" she said but his small chuckling cut her off.

"I'm fine, but thanks for the concern, my dearest assistant Christina" he said with a slight mocking tone in his voice. However, trutt to be told, the last few days had been full of bad luck for him. First there were the nightmares that somehow managed to happen almost every night. And now the lab's rent really had gone up, so naturally he had to get more money somehow.

"Stop calling me with those names!" she almost yelled again and started walking faster, apparently trying to get some distance to him. His legs, however, were much longer, so he could easily keep up with her. He just followed her from what seemed to be a safe distance. Safe in a way that she couldn't disappear anywhere but still far enough to dodge any flying objects that she may or may not throw at him. Just then, he had a weird feeling that something wasn't right. When he looked at Kurisu's back, an image of her lying on a pool of blood flashed through his brain. He shook his head, trying to remind himself that this was the Steins Gate world line where nothing like that could happen. At least not like that. While he was clearing his head, however, he had already fallen behind Kurisu. She was now walking so far that he could just barely see her through the crowd. Seriously, the town was never quiet, not even when it was this hot.

When Okabe arrived to the nearest store that actually sold the only soda that he drank, Kurisu was already waiting for him inside. She did not really seem all that happy about having to wait for him.

"What the heck took you so long?" she asked with slight annoyance in her voice.

"Nothing, I just tripped on my way to here" he lied quickly. Honestly, he did not want to give her any more things to mock him for. He had told her about the time travelling that he had done in the previous world lines, but she never fully believed him. And even when she had asked something, like the reason of the time leaps, he had never answered.

"Hmm, looks like they are all out of soda" Kurisu mumbled as she looked at the store shelves.

"What?! But this just can't be!" Okabe yelled, taking out his phone.

"It's me, the Organization has stolen all the soda from the store. They plan to make me so dehydrated that I cannot stop their evil schemes. El, Psy, Gongroo" he talked to himself again. Kurisu mentally facepalmed, not wanting people to see that she knew the man who was just mumbling stuff about Organizations and sodas. After his short 'phonecall' Okabe finally left the store, leaving Kurisu behind without saying a word.

"H-hey!" Kurisu yelled as she ran after him, finally catching up with him.

"What is your problem, really? First you just pull me out here and then you leave me behind with no explanation at all?!" she demanded, pulling his lab coat. He looked at her with an expression that showed no signs of amusement or annoyement. His expression was, in lack of a better term, rather empty.

"If there's something bothering you, just say it" she said, looking him in the eyes. He let out a deep sigh.

"I have told you about the other world lines before, have I not?" he asked. Kurisu simply rolled her eyes.

"Not this crap again, at least tell me what's really in your mind or I'll-" she said but Okabe cut her off.

"First you start asking what's bothering me and then you just ignore me? Listen, the other world lines did happen and I remember all of them... Every single time that Mayuri died... Every single one..." he started talking loudly, his voice getting weaker by the end. Kurisu was actually quite shocked. He had told her that in the other world lines, she would die, but he never, not even once, mentioned Mayuri doing the same.

"I... I'm sorry, Okabe... I know that it must've been tough for you... Really tough... But it's all over now, right?" she asked, truly sorry for the words she had just said. He didn't answer her though. She then did something that was quite out of character. She hugged him tightly. In a public street where anyone could see them.

"Umm, I just thought that I had to do something to cheer you up so I-" she started rambling as she blushed brightly.

"Yeah, I know... And thanks, Kurisu" he said with a small smile.

**Okay, these first two chapters are basically just Okabe having hard time going through day to day life in the Steins Gate world line after everything he went through. But seriously, I think that there's no way that he would be just fine after that, even though everything turned out to be okay. Also, if you have any ideas for the next chapters/short stories, please let me know.**


End file.
